diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index bf1e3451..f5f3b305 100755
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -5,4 +5,15 @@ if [ -z "$1" ] || [ ! -f "/root/rpc/$1.yml" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-docker compose up -d $(cat /root/rpc/$1.yml | yaml2json - | jq '.services' | jq -r 'keys[]' | tr '\n' ' ')
+services=$(cat "/root/rpc/$1.yml" | yaml2json - | jq '.services' | jq -r 'keys[]' | tr '\n' ' ')
+if [ -z "$services" ]; then
+    echo "FATAL: no services found in /root/rpc/$1.yml" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+docker compose -f /root/rpc/base.yml -f "/root/rpc/$1.yml" up -d $services
+rc=$?
+if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "FATAL: docker compose up failed for $1 (exit $rc)" >&2
+    exit $rc
+fi
diff --git a/stop.sh b/stop.sh
index 14aa38d2..59dddc4a 100755
--- a/stop.sh
+++ b/stop.sh
@@ -5,4 +5,15 @@ if [ -z "$1" ] || [ ! -f "/root/rpc/$1.yml" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-docker compose stop $(cat /root/rpc/$1.yml | yaml2json - | jq '.services' | jq -r 'keys[]' | tr '\n' ' ')
+services=$(cat "/root/rpc/$1.yml" | yaml2json - | jq '.services' | jq -r 'keys[]' | tr '\n' ' ')
+if [ -z "$services" ]; then
+    echo "FATAL: no services found in /root/rpc/$1.yml" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+docker compose -f /root/rpc/base.yml -f "/root/rpc/$1.yml" stop $services
+rc=$?
+if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
+    echo "FATAL: docker compose stop failed for $1 (exit $rc)" >&2
+    exit $rc
+fi